 He worked as a cook before enlisting in the U.S. Navy at age 52 on April 17, 1863.He was assigned as a landsman to , but his last name was erroneously entered into the ship's logs as "Sanderson".The "Wyandank" served as part of the Potomac River Flotilla, a group of ships which enforced the Confederate Blockade against Union shipping on the Potomac River.